The Five-Stage Change Curve Model developed and introduced by Jeanie Daniel Duck provides a framework for predicting and analyzing organizational change. More specifically, the model predicts that change transpires in five stages: stagnation, preparation, implementation, determination, and fruition. Nonetheless, this model can also be used for developing a change management strategy and leading the process of organizational change.
A Look Into the Five-Stage Change Curve Model for Organizational Change of Jeanie Daniel Duck
Jeanie Daniel Duck is a practicing management consultant and the senior vice president of The Boston Consulting Group. She introduced the Five-Stage Change Curve Model in her book “The Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change.”
Her book argues that people see change as a monster. Individuals within an organization fear organizational change because it attacks the status quo and disrupts established standards and practices. However, Duck explains that this monster can be tamed because it follows a pattern that leaders should understand and take advantage of.
The specific Five-Stage Change Curve Model posits that change follows a curve that includes five specific stages. Mastering this change curve can help leaders and the entire organization tame the change monster. Take note of the following details:
1. Stagnation: People and the organization are clueless about threats or forces that would require organizational change. Leaders who believe that there is a need for change must communicate to their people that the status quo is not working anymore while also helping them to build an appetite for change.
2. Preparation: Transpires when an internal agent, such as the top leader of an organization or an external force, compels people to pursue change. This stage would involve complex planning aimed at ensuring that the intended change succeeds. The plan should also be aligned with the mission and vision of the organization and must include a course of action aimed at generating enthusiasm among the people.
3. Implementation: The leadership deploys measures needed to support the change initiative. These include restructuring the organization, redefining the roles and responsibilities of individuals and groups, and implementing rules to guide habits and behaviors, among others. Leaders need to be focused on this stage. They should reinforce desired behaviors and actions while addressing concerns.
4. Determination: People begin realizing the importance of the change initiative, thus inspiring and compelling them to change as individuals by following the measures set forth by their leaders. This stage requires continuous involvement from the top leadership. Leaders need to continue validating the purpose of the organizational change, driving people to act, and deploying tactics aimed at increasing motivation.
5. Fruition: The change initiative succeeds as determined by the positive response from the people and a seeming emergence of a new organization. Leaders also need to reinforce the culture of change within their organizations and continue to move forward so that they would not re-enter another period of stagnation.
Each stage fundamentally tells leaders what to expect from their people and the entire organization. Furthermore, because each has its unique characteristics, it can be used to pinpoint problems and determine possible solutions or courses of actions.
